"When he gave the weed…That's when [Holloman] fired away," Carney said in a statement to police.

Carney's police statement was read during the second day of a jury trial into the 2010 shooting deaths of two Hampton men.

Carney, 23, is charged with murder in the Aug. 22, 2010, homicide of Needam. Needam, 40, was gunned down inside his home at Hampton Creek Apartments on East Pembroke Avenue. Dequan Estelle, 22, is charged with murder in connection with the July 16, 2010, shooting death of 20-year-old Wynton Antonio Thomas. Thomas, of Hampton, was gunned down outside of Harbor Square Apartments.

The two cases are linked because the gun used to kill Needam is the same gun that was stolen from Thomas when he was shot and killed a month earlier, according to court testimony.

In the 2010 statement to police, Carney said Needam was shot after Holloman became upset that Carney and other gang members were unsuccessful in robbing Needam of his marijuana supply.

Carney's statement was in contrast to what an ex-gang member, who testified Monday, says happened. The woman, who has relocated for safety reasons, said she was with Carney during the attempted robbery and saw him shoot Needam several times.

Witnesses spent much of the second day of the trial testifying about the structure of the Nine Trey Ganstas. The gang was formed in 1993 on Rikers Island and is a Bloods gang. Carney told authorities he was beat into the gang at age 14 while he was incarcerated in a juvenile facility, according to court testimony.

Holloman, 29, is also charged in connection with Needam's murder. His trial is set for April.

Holloman was the "five-star general" of the gang, which means he was in charge, according to Hampton police Det. Corey Sales. Carney was under him and was a four-star general.